Abu-Jaber's latest novel, Crescent, is a lyrical tale of love, family and tradition, peopled with characters of Arabian descent, who live in an enclave in the heart of Los Angeles, California. Whether Iranian, Lebanese, Iraqi or Jordanian, all have in common the longing to return to the homelands of their youth, impossible given the socio-economic and political changes of the last decades.
The author speaks particularly to the Iraqi exiles, in a poignant portrayal of their memories, folktales and family connections. She does so in poetic phrases that remind this reader of the prolific Alice Hoffman, as page after page is filled with such deeply moving images, sounds and smells that Crescent redefines cultural stereotypes, allowing each individual his/her own identity.
The most important ingredient in this tasty concoction is the Arab-American Sirine, a master cook of ethnic delicacies at Nadia's Café, a Lebanese establishment, where students and other patrons gather to enjoy familiar dishes and discussions of their native countries. While current events swirl around her, Sirine blithely attends to the meals she lovingly prepares, stirring long-buried memories of her childhood longing for absentee parents, who travel to distant lands in an effort at humanitarian aid. When, finally, her parents fail to return home, Sirine quietly closes her heart against further loss.
When an exiled Iraqi professor of literature catches Sirine's eye, she is unable to resist, suddenly vulnerable to the characteristic emotions of incipient romance, the excitement and passion of the moment. The charismatic Hanif Al Eyad introduces reality into the developing love affair; Han has a past as an exile from Iraq in his early twenties, a past that Sirine must acknowledge if they are to progress toward the necessary intimacy of a meaningful relationship. The tender love scenes have subtle touches of eroticism, a heady mix of that wonderful confusion of the first days of love. But Sirine resists asking about Han`s life before her, only begrudgingly admitting the importance of his past on their future.
An Arab-American, Sirine struggles with Han's attachment to the history that defines him, the siren-song of exile that was once irresistible, but has now cut him off from the beating heart of his country. With innate instinct, Sirine treads carefully in this vulnerable place, exquisitely aware of the delicate balance of the relationship. Once Sirine opens her heart to Han's story, the weight of the novel moves from the euphoria of beginning love to the revelation of faults and flaws, the human frailties that allow forgiveness. Her innocence shattered, Sirine learns the import of emotional commitment, the balance between pleasure and pain; through this experience, she becomes a more fully-defined woman.
Many reviews hail Crescent as an erotic, sensual love story, but Abu-Jaber has written more than a simple romance, drawing the reader beneath the surface of the Arab community. With myriad complexities and allegiances, the idiosyncratic characters bring their experience, memories and family stories to Nadia's Café. With passionate longing, they examine life in exile from beloved countries of origin, a universality of experience: "When we walk away from home, we fall in love with our sadness".
Abu-Jaber's prose is transcendent, as rich as the pastries Sirine serves to her customers; with bits of spice and sugar, the phrases meld together, fable and truth creating memory. We struggle to understand cultural and ideological differences in a world made smaller by communications, yet obscured by the barriers of language and tradition. Abu-Jaber welcomes us inside spice-scented, fragrant rooms where families gather for comfort, much the same as early American immigrants from Ireland and Italy, sharing familial traditions and hopes for the future. Crescent offers a rich, exuberant experience, one that leaves this reader as satisfied as an exotic meal topped off with a serving of vanilla ice cream, the perfect combination of the unexpected and the familiar. In a blend of cultural diversity and the banality of daily life in America, this author invites us to the bountiful buffet of humanity, a feast of the best we have to offer. Luan Gaines/ 2004.
